NERDS New Semester, New Problems
by makokashi22
Summary: Jackson's finally settling into his new identity as a nerd. His new friends are getting closer to him, and things seem to be working out.But things change when the N.E.R.D.S. get a new teammate.And have to deal with a new enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**I've been off the site for a while, waiting for inspiration to strike. And now that N.E.R.D.S. has its own section I can begin. The first chapter is set on the end of Christmas holiday. The weekend before kids go back to school. **

* * *

It was Saturday, the last weekend before the beginning of the new semester. Jackson Jones laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, bored as a rock. In just a few months he went from popular, to nerd, to secret agent. You'd think his life would be more interesting, but it wasn't at the moment

After seeing his family for the holidays, Jackson was looking forward to coming home and spending time with his friends. But he couldn't get ahold of Duncan or Ruby, Matilda had a cold, and Flinch was busy. He actually thought they were avoiding him on purpose. He couldn't blame them, he was their worst enemy up until a few months ago. He'd tried to change his ways and they seemed to like him more. But he couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding how they really felt.

He didn't know where to find Mindy, his would-be girlfriend. Because she was working on some classified project for the N.E.R.D.S. Believe it or not, she tried to keep in touch with him. Sending him E-mails whenever she had free time. But in her new line of work, she didn't have much free time.

His dad was busy with their dog Butch, whom he'd been getting along better with. His brother was finishing up homework he'd been assigned over the holiday. So Jackson had absolutely nothing to do. He glanced over at a framed family photo on his side table, taken before his mother died. He remembered how much happier he had been with his mother around. Just then he got an idea. After changing into some clean clothes, he ran over to his dresser and searched through it

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before" Jackson thought

He pulled out a pair of square, rimless sunglasses out of the drawer and put them on. He stopped by the bathroom to admire the dark eyewear in the mirror. He sped out the door to see his father hosing soap off of Butch.

"I'll be back later" he called out to his dad

"Where are you headed son?" he asked

"I'm going to the flower shop first" he said adjusting his shades "Second.....I'm..."

His dad took notice of the sunglasses and gave a sad smile. "I get it" he said "Tell her I said hello"

Jackson ran down the street, and into town. He bobbed and wove through a crowd of people. After a few minutes he entered a large brick building. He looked around at the bunches of multicolored flowers that decorated the inside. He walked to the front counter, jumped up and rang the bell. A kindly looking young woman came up.

"Hello" she said "Is anyone here?"

"Down here" Jackson said pointing at himself

She bent over the counter and smiled at him "How may I help you?" she asked

Jackson removed his sunglasses and hung them on the front of his shirt "How much for a bouquet of flowers?" Jackson asked

"That depends on the kind of flowers you want" she said

"It doesn't really matter" Jackson said "They just have to be yellow"

"That's odd" she said "Any specific reason for the color"

Jackson throat tightened a bit "Yellow is my mom's favorite color" he said

He smile grew warmer "Let's see what I can work out for you" she said

She went into the back room and came out with small book. A catalog of different flowers.

"Choose the kind you like" she said handing him the catalog

Jackson searched through the book. There were so many different kinds he wasn't sure what to pick.

Eventually he decided on a mix of three different flowers, Daffodils, Goldenrod, and something he'd never heard of called Crocus. After about five minutes, she prepared the bouquet for him.

"So..." Jackson began "How much is it?"

The woman tapped her chin thoughtfully "How much do you have?" she asked

Jackson had gotten money for Christmas. But before he got to spend any of it, his dad always had him save a portion of whatever he received. Whether it was from his allowance, birthday money, or Christmas money, he'd save some and put it away for later. He wasn't sure how much he had left to spend. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two folded bills. A ten and a five.

"Fifteen dollars" he said

She looked around to see if anyone was watching. She hit a few buttons on the cash register. She smiled and whispered " Your total comes to........Fourteen dollars and Ninety-nine cents"

Jackson smiled back as he paid the nice woman. She was obviously giving him a discount on the flowers. He didn't know why, but he was glad she was doing it. He took his flowers and walked out of the shop. He walked for about four or five blocks, without stopping.

After about half an hour of walking he arrived at his destination. The Arlington Grand Cemetery. Jackson didn't like this place, the constant eerie silence was very unnerving. But he swallowed his fear and walked down the stone pathway. He looked to his sides, headstones and mausoleums as far as the eye could see. He walked off the path and stooped in front of one headstone. He placed his flowers in front of it, and put his sunglasses back on. He placed his palm on the large grave marker

"Hi mom" he said

The silence of the graveyard was the only answer he got. But he continued on

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much" Jackson said "Things have been really crazy lately"

He gave a glittering smile, seeing his reflection in the polished stone. "First thing, I got braces" he said "Second....I'm a secret agent now"

He sat down comfortably "It's a long story, but I've got time""It all started when I tried to spy on some of my classmates....."

**It's shorter than I'd have liked, but I think it's a good place to leave the first chapter**. **The second chapter** **involves his teammates banding together with the rest of the nerds in school. Forming a plan to avoid the bullies hazing ritual. They believe they can do it because the bullies former leader is one of them now. Let's see how far they get when they realize they forgot to invite him. **


	2. Chapter 2

BRRRRIIIIIIINNG

The doorbell rang, getting Duncan's attention.

"I'll get it" he said

He opened the door to see three kids. Three nerds from his elementary school.

"Glad you could make it" Duncan said with a warm smile "Come on in"

The nerds joined a small clutch of kids sitting on the couch. A clutch that slowly got bigger as time passed. Duncan joined Ruby and Flinch in the corner of the room

"This is gonna be great" Flinch said

"I wonder if Matilda can make it?" Ruby asked

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Duncan ran up to the door "Who is it?"he asked

The response was a series of sounds. A sneeze, the sound of nose being blown loudly, a gasp and a few coughs.

Duncan opened the door "Glad you could make it, Matilda" he said "We were beginning to think that you were to sick to show up"

Matilda sneezed into a snot-filled tissue "Like I was going to let a cold stop me" she said

She looked even more disheveled than her normal facade. But this was to be expected, colds could devastate even the toughest person.

The livingroom was filled with small collection of Nathan Hale Elementary school nerds. A group of dorks, dweebs, spazzes, goobers, gomers, goofballs, and freak-outs. Brought to Duncan's house through a chain of phone calls. He, Ruby, Matilda and Flinch stood in front of the group.

"Thanks for coming everyone" Duncan said

The group brought their attention to the four nerds in front of them.

"What's up" one of the nerds said

"As you all know" Ruby began "School starts back on Monday"

"And we all know what happens when we come back to school" Matilda said sniffling a bit

Bad memories began to bubble to the surface. They were all dreading the bullies annual hazing. Getting blasted in the face with gooey spitballs. Getting painful purple nurples or nasty noogies. Wet willies, getting their ears flicked, having their hair pulled. And of course, the king of all forms of nerd torture, the atomic wedgie.

"We all get picked on"Matilda said "And we all know the worst of it comes when we come back to school over the holidays""When the bullies have had a chance to plan out their attack on us"

"But this time" Ruby said "We're going to come out on top"

One boy stopped picking his nose long enough to ask "How is this time going to be any different than the other times?"

"Because we have a perfect way to avoid them now" Duncan said "A secret weapon named

Jackson Jones"

There was a small outbreak of chatter amongst the nerd herd. In the past, Jackson was the king of the school, and had made no secret of his disdain for nerds. He had taken the utmost pleasure in tormenting them for his own amusement. But after he'd gotten braces, and had been named the schools biggest nerd, he changed. He had tried to be nicer to people, especially the kids he had picked on. Most of them still hadn't completely forgiven him. Some of them were in disbelief over how Jackson was acting.

One boy popped a bubble gum bubble he was blowing "No way he helps us out" he said

"I know you guys probably have a hard time believing he's changed" Flinch said through a mouthful of marshmallow cream "Sometimes we don't even believe it"

"But he was a bully" a girl said "Why should we ask him for help"

"Because he used to be one of them" Duncan said "He was a part of the group that used to torment us""But now that he's one of us we can use what he knows to form our own strategy""A strategy to avoid the bullies"

The nerds were quiet as Matilda joined in "Just think about it" she said after pulling out her inhaler

"At the beginning of every semester, those guys come out of nowhere to pull their stupid pranks""With their former leader on our side we could easily find a way to dodge them all"

"Those idiots always find the best way to pull pranks on us" Ruby said "They know which pranks will hurt each one of us the most""But they only get that far because they have a plan""Considering that we're smarter than them, just imagine what we could do if we had our own plan to avoid them"

The nerds began to talk amongst themselves, beginning to like the idea.

"Any questions?" Ruby asked

"I have one" Stevie Lazar piped up "If Jackson is the person we need for this to work, why isn't he here?"

Ruby was struck silent. She looked around, as did Duncan, Flinch and Matilda. Jackson wasn't there. Ruby walked toward the kitchen, motioning for her friends to follow her.

"Excuse us for a moment" Ruby said

When they got to the kitchen, they began to talk

"Where's Jackson?" Flinch asked

"Didn't...one of you invite him?" Ruby asked

Matilda wiped her nose on her sleeve "Don't look at me" she said "I've been in bed for the past few days"

Flinch shrugged his shoulders "You guys came up with the idea" he said looking at Duncan and Ruby "I thought one of you were gonna do it" he said

"We were busy trying to get everyone else to come in" Duncan said placing his hand over his eyes "I don't believe it""We forgot about him!"

Ruby shook her head and laughed "It's kinda ironic" she said "We were so hyped up to come up with a plan to avoid the bullies""That we forgot to invite the one person who's necessary for our plan"

"It's no big deal" Flinch said "Let's just call him and ask him to come over"

"That's a great....." Duncan began but stopped midway "Wait.....does anyone know his phone number?"

No one said a word "Perfect" Matilda wheezed "Just perfect"

"I've got an idea" Duncan said as he pulled a blue sphere out of his pocket. He pressed a button on its side and it began to spin.

"What can I help you with Gluestick?" Ben's voice said from the sphere

"I need you to pinpoint Braceface's location" he said

"Scanning" Ben said

There were a few seconds of electronic humming until they heard his voice again "Oh dear" he said in a concerned tone.

"What is it" Duncan asked

"It would appear that Braceface's current whereabouts...." Ben began almost nervously "Are at....The Arlington Grand Cemetery"

That got everyone's attention "The Cemetery" Flinch repeated "You don't mean that he's...."

"Don't be ridiculous" Ruby said her voice wavering a bit "The scan wouldn't have found him if he was dead"

"To the contrary" Ben said "As long as the TL-46A implant remains in the subject he can be found anywhere, anytime""Regardless if being alive or not"

The nerds were silent for a few seconds. The four kids dashed out of the kitchen and headed toward the front door. Duncan stopped in front of the nerd herd for a moment

"We'll be right back" he said "Help yourself to anything in the fridge"

And with that, he shut the door behind him.

**Again, this chapter is much shorter than I'd have liked. But I turned the other half of it into the third chapter. It seems to be flowing pretty well. In chapter three the N.E.R.D.S. find Jackson and learn a little more about their former enemy.**

**Please Review**


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter features a more sensitive side of Jackson. A side his teammates haven't seen. Or rather, didn't know existed_.

"How far are we from the cemetery now?" Flinch asked

"About a block" Duncan said "I wish we weren't moving so slowly"

Matilda coughed "Well excuse me for not breathing" she said popping her inhaler into her mouth

"That's not what I meant" Duncan said "I just want to get back home before everyone leaves"

The four nerds had been walking at an even pace for about half an hour. They'd have reached their destination faster with their upgrades, but they couldn't use them in public. They turned a corner to see a large plot of land covered with grave markers, surrounded by metal fencing.

"Look" Duncan said pointing "There he is"

They saw Jackson positioned in front of a large headstone. He appeared to be talking to it.

"Let's go" Duncan said

They got to the gate but Ruby hesitated.

"Maybe you should....go without me" she suggested

"What's wrong" Flinch asked "Are you.....I dunno.....allergic to dead things?"

"Yes" Ruby said

"But that's not why you don't want to go, is it?" Matilda asked "This graveyard creeps you out, doesn't it"

Ruby nodded "C'mon" Matilda said grabbing her arm and leading her in

"I wonder why he's here" Flinch asked

The four kids walked in synch down the stony path. Slowly as not to be heard by Jackson. The closer they got, the clearer Jackson's words became.

"I've made some new friends" he said "But I really don't think they like me much""Not really surprising considering that I used to bully them"

"Wait" Matilda said stopping the team "Let's listen"

They ducked behind a large granite statue, listening to their classmate.

"Duncan was the first one to start being nice to me" he said "It's kinda weird that he always seems so happy all the time""How he manages to be so positive is something I can't understand""That and how he manages to choke down so much paste"

Duncan held back a small chuckle.

"I wish I could be more like him" Jackson said "He's smart, focused, honest...."

He stopped to laugh a bit "I never thought I'd see the day where'd I'd actually be jealous of a nerd" he said

Duncan couldn't believe it. The former king of the school was jealous of him. His face moved into a proud smile.

"Then there's Matilda" he continued "She's got asthma, so she sort of sounds like that squeaky toy that Butch loves to play with"

Matilda frowned as her teammates struggled to contain their laughter.

"But man that girl can fight" Jackson said "I should know because I've fought her before""Without her asthma, she'd probably make a good addition to the football team"

Matilda grinned at the compliment she was given.

"But I could probably take her if she stayed on the ground" Jackson said

"Oh, really?" Matilda thought "That's what _you_ think"

"I'd like to.....grab her by her monobrow and swing her around like a ragdoll" he added

Matilda's jaw lowered a little while Ruby, Flinch and Duncan were shaking with suppressed giggles.

"Next is Flinch" Jackson said "Out of the four of them I'd say he's the coolest""He's really wild and over the top""But I guess that's why I think he's so cool"

Flinch looked a little surprised at what Jackson was saying.

"He thinks I'm cool?" he thought "Wow"

"He has....a weird taste in pants though" Jackson said "And he eats way to much sugar""I'd bet you could power everything in an entire city from the sugar energy he builds up in a day"

Flinch looked down "I always thought my pants were pretty stylish" he thought

"And with all that sugar he eats, I can't imagine how many cavities he must have" Jackson said

Flinch gave a quiet snort "I'd think you'd be the last person to talk about someone's teeth" he thought

"But I guess I'm the last person who should talk about someone's teeth" Jackson said smiling and looking at his reflection in the polished stone. The metal of his braces clearly visible.

"Ruby was a tough nut to crack" Jackson said "Tougher still because I don't think I've really gotten anywhere with her"

Ruby crept out from behind the statue so she could hear Jackson more clearly

"I honestly think she still hates me" Jackson said "Not that I blame her""All those wet willies, kick me signs, and times that I pulled her pigtails couldn't have helped any"

Ruby shuddered a bit as she remembered Jackson's former ways as a bully. But she didn't hate him anymore. Truth be told, she felt a bit hurt at Jackson's words.

"She's stubborn as a mule" Jackson said "And her head is harder than concrete"

Ruby frowned angrily as the others just smiled at her.

"She's basically me" Jackson said "If I were a girl with allergies"

Ruby shook her head while Flinch, Duncan And Matilda's smiles got wider.

"I wonder how she eats when she's allergic to everything?" Jackson said "With all the swelling, scratching, sweating and sniffing, I don't know how she can stand it""I don't think I've ever seen her without some kind of rash"

Ruby bit her lip, trying to say silent.

"That...and I've never seen her without her hair in pigtails" Jackson said "You know, I bet she'd look pretty cute if she let her hair down"

Ruby's face exploded into a blush, which turned into a series of angry red blotches. She wasn't expecting the compliment. Now she was embarrassed, and she was allergic to embarrassment. She scratched at the blemishes vigorously, while her teammates kept each other from bursting into laughter.

A dreamy sort of look passed Jackson's face "And then...there's Mindy" he said "I guess you could call her my girlfriend...sort of""I never thought I'd fall for a girl who tried to kill me twice""I don't really get to see her much""But she emails me every now and again"

Ruby motioned to her teammates. They got out from behind the statue and began walking toward Jackson.

"So that's it" he said "A lot's happened to me since you died""I like to think I've changed""So has Chaz, and we're a lot closer to dad now""Thanks to my braces, and Chaz getting cut from the football team, we can connect to him outside of sports"

Jackson throat tightened as he spoke "But it's not the same without you""I really miss you mom"

"That's your mom?" asked a surprised sounding voice

Jackson looked up to see his four teammates, all of which had shocked expressions on their faces. They were obviously disturbed by this bit of information

"What are you guys doing here?" Jackson asked

"We came to get you" Duncan said eying the bouquet of flowers at the grave "You said...that was....your mom?"

"Yeah" he said "She...died last year"

All four of them had grim looks on their faces.

"I..." Duncan began "We didn't....know that"

Jackson shrugged "It's OK" he said " I really don't like to talk about it anyway""And besides, no one's really interested"

They couldn't deny that. Even though they were much closer, the nerds were still wary of him. Even Duncan, who was the first to open up and forgive him, knew next to nothing about him aside from his days as a bully. It was astounding really, to think that the guy who looked like he had everything was missing something so important. Before his braces, they just saw him as a self absorbed jerk who liked making people feel small. But right now, all they saw was a sensitive, insecure boy with braces who had lost his mother.

"What's with the shades, bro?" Flinch asked

"I always wear them when I come visit my mom's grave" Jackson said hanging them on them front of his shirt again"She always said...that she thought I looked cool when I wore them"

Jackson looked around at his teammates as he stood up "What do you mean "You came to get me?" he asked

Clearing her throat, Ruby spoke "We need your help with something?"

"Like what" he asked

"Remember how you and those jerks you used to call friends would gang up on us when school starts" Ruby began

Jackson didn't like to remember his days as a bully, but he nodded firmly at Ruby's question.

"We know you used to be a part of it" Matilda said "And we were wondering if you'd help us fight back"

"I thought you guys were against retaliation?" Jackson said "You know, blowing our cover""You guys are destined for better lives than they are, and all that jazz"

"This is different" Duncan said "We don't actually want to fight""We just want to avoid it all"

"And we figured you'd be the perfect person to ask for help" Flinch said

Matilda coughed a few times and took a hit of her inhaler "We've gathered a bunch of classmates at Duncan's house" she said "And they're waiting for us to come back"

Jackson thought for a moment. He didn't think it was possible to avoid the bullies without having to confront them somehow. But they were asking for his help. And considering his past as a bully, and his current situation as a nerd, he was in no position to refuse. He dusted off the front of his jeans

"Alright" he said "I'll help" "But could you let me finish up here"

Ruby turned around "We'll wait for you outside the gates" Ruby said "You probably want to be alone for this"

Jackson gave a quick nod and the nerds headed back down the path. They stood at the gate talking amongst themselves.

"Just imagine" Duncan said "Losing your mom"

"You can't really blame him for not telling us" Flinch said "It doesn't sound like something you'd actually _want _to talk about"

"He must really be hurting" Matilda said with a small gasp "And he doesn't even show it"

"He's stronger than we give him credit for" Ruby said

After about five minutes, Jackson jogged down the path. He was wearing his sunglasses again

"OK" he said "Let's go"

**Sorry for the wait. This chapter went through several re-writes. Part of the original chapter, ended up becoming part of the next chapter. I don't know where the descriptions of his friends came from. I don't even remember writing that part. But all in all, I think this chapter turned out pretty well. Next chapter is the walk back to Duncan's house and the planning stage**.


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